Judge stalls bid to wrest control of Super 88

Through a limited liability company, Wu purchased the debt of the homegrown Boston chain and scheduled an auction of its three stores and other assets for next week, possibly planning to buy them back himself.

Such a move, known as a “loan-to-own’’ strategy, would thwart two other potential buyers who have filed lawsuits claiming they have their own deals to buy Super 88 stores. But Judge Paul E. Troy yesterday ordered a temporary halt to the auction to allow more time for buyers to hash out their claims.

Wincent International Inc., a New Jersey company that runs the Kam Man supermarket in Quincy, said it made a $2 million deal in late July for the Super 88 store at the South Bay shopping center in Dorchester. Doris and Gary Wong, who own Food-Pak Express, a wholesale company on Boston’s Southampton Street, said they made a $3.2 million deal in mid-August to purchase the Super 88 store in Allston.

Yesterday, the Wongs’ attorney, Vincent J. Pisegna, called Troy’s decision “good for us.’’

“It stops the threatened foreclosure sale,’’ he said. “It’s heartening to my client that he will be given the opportunity to close his agreement to buy the Allston store.’’

The Wongs, Wincent International, and Wu have been vying for ownership of Super 88 since at least late August. That’s when Wu’s company, Hong Kong Supermarket Inc., announced that it had bought Super 88 for $9 million from businessmen George V.H. Luu and his father, Peter, who founded the chain.

The Luus have left their supermarket business, which has floundered financially, to focus their efforts on a hotel and casino venture in Vietnam. They did not respond to repeated phone and e-mail requests for comment.

In mid-August, after first hearing rumors that their deals were threatened, Wincent International and the Wongs each filed suits in Suffolk Superior Court that resulted in a temporary restraining order blocking the sale of Super 88’s assets.

Wu’s maneuvering could have circumvented that restraining order, said Edwin E. Smith, cochairman of the financial services area at the law firm Bingham McCutchen. By buying Super 88’s debt, Smith said, Wu has become the chain’s major creditor, able to force a sale of Super 88’s assets.

It also gave Wu a competitive advantage over other buyers, because it allows him to include the total amount of the debt in a bid at public auction before committing any cash. Such a sale would not violate the earlier restraining order, Smith said.

“He’s very smart to have bought the debt, presumably at a discount,’’ Smith said.

The amount of Super 88’s debt was “seven figures,’’ according to Wu’s attorney, Hayes Young, who said that Wu has a substantial interest in Lucky Star Elmhurst, the New York limited liability company that purchased Super 88’s debts.

Although Young declined to say whether Wu or Hong Kong Supermarket had planned to bid on Super 88’s assets at public auction, on Monday, he said: “We would certainly reserve any rights to that regard.’’

Yesterday, Young said he would need to review the new restraining order before deciding how to proceed.

Pisegna called Wu’s actions the kind of hardball business tactic that could unfairly leave his clients “out of luck.’’

“My client would not be able to buy what he has a contract to buy,’’ Pisegna said.

Young, however, said the acquisition of Super 88’s debt was merely a good business opportunity, and a “bona fide purchase.’’

Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.